Continental breathes new life into old tyres

Continental says its new truck tyre production plant in Germany is taking retreads to new heights

Tyre manufacturer Continental recently took a select number of journalists on a tour of its ContiLifeCycle plant in Hanover-Stocken, Germany, which opened in November 2013.

There journalist Andrew van Leewen got a first-hand glimpse of how Continental is breathing new life into old truck and bus tyres, with an innovative new technique that the manufacturer claims is producing retreads that are comparable in quality with brand new tyres.

Read on for Mr Van Leewen's report on the ContiLifeCycle tour…

At the ContiLifeCycle plant Continental has integrated hot and cold retreading programs in a way never seen before, creating a brand new life cycle for tyres that is as good for the trucking industry as it is for the environment.

What sets this plant apart from other retreading plants around the world is Continental's unique hot retreading program which, put simply, can refurbish tyres to a point where their rolling resistance, tread quality and compound technology is on par with brand new tyres.

It all starts with used tyre casings. Instead of being thrown in a dump, the casings can now be brought to the ContiLifeCycle plant, where they are inspected both visually and through a high-tech shearography machine.

If the tyre is deemed suitable for retreading – and a whopping 85 per cent of them are – the process moves on to the buffing stage. This means the entire casing is rubbed back and stripped of unwanted rubber, before any remaining imperfections are repaired.

The new tread material is then applied followed by a vulcanising process, during which the new tread pattern is formed exactly as if a new tyre were being made from scratch.

The result is a retreaded tyre that has a rolling resistance within five per cent of a brand new tyre. And with the hot retreading process being so advanced, newly developed tread patterns and compounds can be introduced without delay.

In other words, consumers can buy retreaded tyres that are, quite literally, as good as new.

The benefits for the customers are clear. First, they can trade in their cases (provided they are suitable for retreading) and then save more money by buying retreaded tyres instead of new tyres without having to sacrifice quality. That in turn leads to a positive impact on the environment; the process encourages consumers to refurbish worn tyres, rather than simply throw them away.

The environmental benefits of the ContiLifeCycle process don't stop at simply reducing waste. That excellent rolling resistance results in better fuel economy for vehicles, which means less emissions.

And even the hot retreading process itself has been designed with a greener world in mind, right down to the rubber crumbs that are rubbed from the tyre during the buffing process. Instead of being tossed aside, they are cleaned, treated, and used in making new compounds.

Given the benefits for both consumers and the environment, it is little wonder that 80 per cent of what will be 180,000 tyres processed annually at the plant go through the ground-breaking hot retreading process rather than the more traditional cold retreading process.

That cold retreading process, as used in the Australian market, has also been given a birthday by the ContiLifeCycle plant.

As is the case with the hot retreading process, the crumbs of rubber extracted during the buffing process are properly recycled.

And the cold retreading process is one that allows tyre casings from any brand of tyre, not just worn Continental rubber, to be refurbished and put back, quite literally, into circulation.

While the ContiLifeCycle plant is based in Germany, the significance of its innovation will not be limited to Europe.

According to Mitchell Golledge, Marketing Manager of Continental Tyres of Australia, the ContiLifeCycle plant is an overall sign of the brand's commitment to the automotive industry having a greener future. It's something that affects the tyre markets around the globe, including Australia.

"Longer term, Hanover will be the hub from which Continental will roll out these services to the rest of the world," Golledge said.

"For us, this is a glimpse of the future for the Australian market.

"The recycling initiative is gathering momentum around the world and Continental is at the centre of it by developing environmentally friendly programs from the get-go."

Continental breathes new life into old tyres

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